Rain Check
by GlitterDemon
Summary: [Oneshot]A special Valentine's Day fic. PostMeteor.Elena wrestles with the idea that Tseng is gone. But is he...?


A/n: My first Turk fic! I wanted to do something for Valentine's day, and while my first inclination was, of course, Vincent, he refused to cooperate. So here's one for another Turk with a quiet demeanor and long, black hair...  
  
Rain Check  
  
A Turk lived for their job. She hadn't been a member for long, but the fierce dedication was there, all the same. The little information she'd gotten from the others told her they all felt the same. You were born a Turk, and you died a Turk.  
  
But how could they still be Turks with no Shin-Ra, and no one to lead them?  
  
During their final confrontation with AVALANCHE, She had said that even though Shin-Ra had collapsed, they would still carry out their mission. That was what a Turk did. But they had been forced to retreat, and now that Meteor was gone, they had no mission. So what were they supposed to do now?  
  
In Reno's opinion, they were supposed to drink themselves into a stupor so they could avoid the question. Or until they could no longer remember it. So they found themselves back in Wutai, attempting to make merry in the Turtle's Paradise. Only none of them seemed up to being merry at the moment. Especially her. This place held bad memories.  
  
Elena remembered the last time the Turks had all gathered here. Back when they'd still had four members. Before they'd been ordered to find the Temple of the Ancients. Before he. . .  
  
She hated being in Wutai. She had loved it back then, after all, it was a chance to see the place he had grown up. The formal, traditional lifestyle led by everyone here had given her some idea why Tseng acted the way he did. So austere, so stiff, his attention given to the job and nothing else. Including her.  
  
But then they'd had to leave. The Temple wasn't hard to find, with the information given to them by the spy. Tseng had showed up with the keystone, and she had followed him down into the altar.  
  
The temple was a confusing maze of pathways and stairs, but somehow Tseng seemed to know how to navigate them. She still remembered seeing the strange spirit bodies of the Ancients who guarded the Temple, but most of all, she remembered the murals.  
  
They covered an entire wall deep in the bowels of the Temple. Enormous, elaborate paintings that depicted all the knowledge the Ancients had amassed during their guardianship of the planet. Tseng had tried to decipher some of them, but even he couldn't read the strange writing on the walls. After that, he seemed to let down his guard a bit, and they'd had a short conversation.  
  
"Hey, Elena. How about dinner after this job is over?"  
  
She couldn't believe he'd said it. It took her a minute to realize he really had. Could it be that all this time he really had noticed her? She immediately said yes. Then she had made the biggest mistake of her life.  
  
She had left him.  
  
She'd been told to report any findings to the president. How was she supposed to know what-who-was waiting inside that Temple? How could she have imagined that it would be the last time she would ever see him alive?  
  
But then, was he even dead? Worse than knowing he was, was not being sure. Had he crawled out before the Temple had caved in? Or had he been unable to escape? Even if Sephiroth hadn't killed him, the Temple would have.  
  
All this uncertainty was getting to be too much for her to handle. Not bothering to tell Reno and Rude where she was going, she got up and walked out of the bar. They were too drunk to notice her absence anyway.  
  
Outside, the sky was gray, cold, fat raindrops plastered her short blond hair to her head. Elena pulled her blue suit-jacket closer around her, and began to walk. She found herself heading toward Da Chao, staring up at the foreboding figured carved into the cliff face. Reno and Rude had rescued her here last time. They'd even teamed up with AVALANCHE briefly to do it. Because it was their job, Rude had said. Tseng hadn't been there, but nevertheless, she had found herself wishing he had been the one to save her.  
  
But who needed romance anyway? Not her. She was a Turk, and it was time she started acting like one. Tseng was gone, it was time she accepted that and put it aside.  
  
The rain started coming down harder as she neared Da Chao, the torrent of water making it hard to see. Up ahead, Elena could barely make out the stone gods, and among them . . .was there someone else up there? Perhaps another lonely soul seeking escape and solitude?  
  
Elena ignored those thoughts as she began to climb. She didn't know why she was doing it, her feet seemed to walk the dirt paths of their own accord. One or twice she almost slipped, the paths having turned to slick mud, but she kept her footing.  
  
As she neared the top, she could see the warm orange glow ahead, coming from the fire caves. The heat was so intense she could feel it even through her damp, cold clothes. Despite it, she was still shivering. She decided she'd had enough, and was turning to head back down, when she slipped again, sliding down the steep path toward the edge of the great statue. Suddenly, something rose up out of the darkness, blocking the path and stopping her descent.  
  
She saw two pale hands gripping her shoulders, and followed the arms upward to see a face peering at her through the darkness. It was Wutain man, with long, tangled black hair and a handsome face smudged with dirt. His suit was filthy and wrinkled, the dark blue color faded and stained. Dark blue?  
  
Elena did a double take, and looked closer at the man's face. He was looking at her with concern, and as she saw the small, dark dot at the center of his forehead, recognition filled her eyes.  
  
"Tseng?"  
  
He smiled at the name, and she knew then it was him. Tears welled in her hazel eyes as she gripped his arms and smiled up at him.  
  
"Tseng! You're alive! But how? Why?" A thousand questions flooded her mind, and she closed her mouth before they all poured out at once. Tseng just gave her a faint smile.  
  
"I believe I owe you dinner." 


End file.
